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An old ordination hymn of...

Illustration
Proper 12 | Ordinary Time 17 - B
2 Kings 2:1-15
An old ordination hymn of the church has the line, "Elijah's mantle o'er Elisha cast." I am not at all sure that if Elijah were around today that pulpit search committees would be beating a path to his door. After all, this is the prophet King Ahab labeled as a troublemaker. This is the preacher who openly challenged Queen Jezebel. This is the fellow who disturbed the complacency of a morally indifferent populace with the insistence on a "yes" or "no" decision. This is the man who bristled at entrenched evil and sounded the thematic notes of ethical religion.
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